The ways in which we communicate are changing very, very fast. The pandemic has accelerated changes that would have taken years to take full effect and are now happening in a matter of months.

Much like you, I want the work I do to mean something. I want my efforts to produce fruit, and I want the people and organizations I help to thrive, not just survive. 

I have a few predictions of what’s in store for those of us who want to reach people using marketing strategies and tactics. These have been trends I’ve seen growing in 2020 and some that have appeared in the past few days even, but can fundamentally change how we reach people.

1. Good content is not going to be enough to reach people

Content is now ubiquitous and great content is everywhere. There was a time where if you had helpful, practical content, you were ahead of the curve and it was easy for people to discover your content and to consume it.

That’s no longer true. Great content is everywhere: podcasts, blogs, e-books, videos, course, and it’s easy and a lot of it free.

Now people are seeking curated content.  

“Don’t just give me good information. Help me to understand it and implement the information you produce.”

The new winner in content marketing is The Guide. That’s the person who not only show me a better, faster, easier, purposeful way of doing something, but he or she is willing to help me through the journey of getting what they promised me with their content.

Figure out how to be the guide for your content, product or service and you’ll win.

2. Online advertising is going to take a step backwards

As a marketer, the past decade of evolution in digital advertising has been an amazing ride.

A few years ago, we marketers would send direct mail pieces and pray that it would connect with our list (which we hoped it would be worth the thousands it cost to buy). Today we are able to define exactly who our target audience needs to be for any of our digital ads. For example, we can show an ad to a mother of preschoolers who lives within 3 miles of our client’s location, is a conservative Christian and, therefore, would most likely be interested in the Mother’s Day Out program our church has to offer.

I’m afraid it’s not going to be that easy anymore.

First it was GDPR, then came the California Consumer Privacy Act who put more scrutiny on how personal data was collected, and now Apple just announced that it will stop sharing personal information with social networks and sites unless users give their expressed permission to do so.

What does that mean?

Well, a lot of things, but mostly, no more pixel tracking. Which means we won’t be able to serve ads and content to people who visited our FB page, our website, our ministry landing pages or opened our emails.

While there are a lot of strategic and tactical implications for marketers, the biggest one is that it will take longer and cost more to find your target audience within social networks.

However, once we unlock how to create engagement with our target audience, we will be able to have a greater impact on them.

3. One-to-one marketing will grow exponentially

Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram direct messages, and text messaging are going to rule the day, shortly.

While you are not able to retarget ads to someone who saw your IG story, you will, however, be able to contact them if they sent you a direct message or contacted you via Messenger or WhatsApp.  

While that’s a lot more work, it is also be a much more personal and effective way to communicate with a potential volunteer, member, buyer or donor.

Here are some resources that you might want to take advantage of:

The 5 Must-Do Nonprofit Marketing Strategies from the Pandemic is a great resource if you have not downloaded it. You can find it here.

If you want help in putting together an integrated marketing campaign, we have a FREE training. You can learn more here.